Okay. With the Emerald City Con happening this weekend I got caught behind the 8-ball, column-wise. Pol essentially already did the column idea I was playing with for this week (if you MUST know what it was going to be, I can tell you it pretty much would have been an expanded version of what I said in the comments there. But less hastily written and with fewer typos.)

Anyway, I don't have time with all the convention preparation madness to come up with a new column idea and get it written in time to post.

So instead, here are some photos of said convention prep, from Thursday's last-minute hustle in class to get everything done and ready to go for this weekend. I figured after last week's entry maybe you'd enjoy seeing the kids actually working.

The con books are done (in press, that is -- they're MY problem now, not the kids') so for the last couple of days it's been about our display posters. These are a bunch of drawings mounted in a collage on a piece of foamcore board, a sort of poster jam. These will be on an easel behind our table in Artist's Alley, so you see the actual work behind the artists as you walk up to us. Here's the one the Denny class did Wednesday.



The Denny class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays -- the Madison class is Tuesdays and Thursdays. There's a mild rivalry between the two schools, but we don't really see it in Cartooning. However, there is a huge difference in demeanor between the two groups. Denny's cartooning class is very studious and focused.

Madison's, on the other hand... not so much.



Of course, I asked for it when I pulled out a camera. That's Lisel in the foreground, and behind her you can see Rachel (with the pink flowered shirt and glasses) and Lindon (in the dark blue sweatshirt) are trying to look like Bad Girls. I think I may have said that was a hot trend in comics or something.



Once a camera comes out, there's nothing for it but to wait for the goofy faces and hammy poses to pass. This is a relatively restrained shot of Helene and Stephanie.



Danielle and Jessica and another bout of Hammy McHam.

This is Cameron. Cameron's new. He really LOVES Cartooning and is doing very well at it. Sometimes I think I'm the only one that gets to see this side of the kids; it's why I'm so glad we get to do this con where they can strut a little for their parents and do a real signing with real readers.



As you can see, Cameron's discovered the non-repro pencil. Never saw a kid work so HARD at this. Sadly, he won't be at the show -- his mother thinks it would be too much for him, and she's probably right. So I am going to find him something cool there and bring it back for him. And he is at least represented on the poster.

This is Madison. Yes, Madison from Madison.



She and Jamar finished early so they are back to their regular schedule. Madison is looking over Jamar's new strip, "Tokyo Girls," because she's come to a stop on her own angry strip, "It's Bush's Fault!" -- she was trying to draw a forest in flames and was a bit stuck on how to do it. Madison is my one political cartoonist. I usually get one every year, and I always encourage the kids when they want to try political stuff. Doesn't matter which side of the aisle -- I just like seeing them try it. Certainly it's a nice change from the shoujo manga stuff, which is what most of my kids want to do.

And here's the finished piece. Despite the Madison class being about four times as big as Denny's, somehow we found room for everybody.



See you next week with more photos and a convention report. And a real column, not just captions, I promise.